


Through a dark mirror

by AnnaTaure



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Force Ghosts, Gen, It's Not Paranoia If They're Really Out To Get You, Star Wars meets It's A Wonderful Life, except it's not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-28
Updated: 2018-07-28
Packaged: 2019-06-17 16:58:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15465948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnaTaure/pseuds/AnnaTaure
Summary: Supreme Leader Ren receives an unexpected visit.





	Through a dark mirror

Ren was fuming as he entered his private chambers, leaving the unconscious body of General Hux in his wake. The man had, again, argued against an operation planned by Ren himself, protesting that it would cost the First Order more allies and troopers than they could afford to lose. Ren had silenced him by sending him crash against the bulkhead. Who did he think he was, that Force-blind nobody, the bastard runt that no one wanted? _Kylo Ren_ was the Supreme Leader, and no one else. The throne was his by right of conquest. He had killed Snoke, no one could steal this victory from him.

“Where would they be without me?” he growled. 

“In a much better place.” 

“Who's here?” Ren barked, weapon in hand, ready to strike. “Show yourself!” 

A man slowly appeared in front of him, surrounded by a light blue glow. _Force ghost_ , Ren thought. His visitor was tall and broad-shouldered, though not as much as Ren himself, with sandy brown hair and blue eyes, and considered Ren with a mix of curiosity and barely concealed distaste. 

"Who are you?” he demanded. 

“Are you kidding me?” the man groaned. “You've been calling me for years, then shut me out when I reached back, and you have the nerve to ask who I am?” 

“G-grandfather?” 

“Yeah. Much to my endless shame.” 

“I did not push you away,” Ren protested, “but the call from the Light.” 

“And who do you think it was, genius?” Anakin Skywalker snapped. 

“But...” 

“I turned back to the Light before I died, and I've stuck to it since then. Pity you didn't notice _that_.” 

Ren blinked. 

"But Snoke said -” 

Anakin barked a bitter laugh. 

“Ah, yes. Snoke. Even more manipulative than Palpatine, if you can imagine. Must give him credits for that. You killed him, by the way, so perhaps you should not attach to much value to what he told you.” 

“That's not what I want to hear,” Ren cut in. “What did you mean by 'a better place' without me?” 

Anakin sighed and finally gave up. Even as a ghost, you could get fed up with someone easily enough, it seemed. 

“I can show you, for all the good it will do. Come here.” 

Ren approached and suddenly felt pulled forward as the ghost touched his hand. He reopened his eyes to find a familiar place. It was the house his parents had inhabited when they resided on Chandrila. As usual, the reception room was crowded and he spotted his uncle among the visitors, along with a red-haired woman. Luke had forsaken his Jedi robes for once, opting for a smoke grey tunic and trousers with polished black boots. His companion had chosen a similar suit in lapis blue. 

“Where am I?” 

“Nowhere,” Anakin replied. “You were not born in that reality. Your mother was too frightened by her... inheritance and here she had the last word against her husband.” 

Ren walked closer to the group, hearing his f- Solo's laugh at something Skywalker had said. 

“Well,” he was telling his brother-in-law, “you certainly took that reconciliation stuff seriously. Working with an ISB agent, I can get it, but marrying her on top of that? Color me impressed!” 

“She's also Force-sensitive,” Luke pointed out. 

“Things feel less lonely this way,” the woman added with a smirk. 

“Mara Jade,” Anakin said with some fondness. “An impressive investigator. Palpatine had great hopes for her at first, but she didn’t take to his training as much as he would have liked. Yet he was pragmatic enough not to waste such talent by killing her. Perhaps I should have tried to teach her.” 

That left a bitter taste in Ren's mouth. His grandfather would deem a complete stranger worthy of his presence and lessons, but not him? 

The scene shifted, and he found himself back in his parents' apartment on Hosnia. He could hear them arguing; _that_ would never change, apparently. 

“We are not discussing it,” Leia's voice was saying. 

“Discussing what?” 

Han, sounding tired. 

“Children,” Leia snapped. “I saw how you looked at Ben yesterday.” 

“As it happens, Your Highness, I wasn't going to discuss kids.” 

“Oh?” 

“Yeah, I know a lost cause when I see one. No, I wanted to discuss a divorce.” 

Ren walked closer and could see Leia blink several times at her husband. 

“Are you serious?” 

“Very much so. You know how I grew up in the streets. I've always wanted a real family. Something stable. I mentioned that multiple times. But you... you hide behind your father's shadow to refuse that! Luke is Vader's kid as well, and I don't see him refusing to have his own children! They're already thinking about another one, even. Leia... I really love you but I'm not happy like this. Our marriage always comes second and... and you never listen when I talk about things that are going wrong, so...” 

The apartment dissolved and was slowly replaced by a misty morning on Feenix. Ren knew the place; he had stayed there for years as Skywalker's padawan. He looked around for the man and finally spotted him, sitting cross-legged on the grass with his students around him, asking question about their most recent experiences with the Force. 

Ren twitched when he heard the man call his former name. The boy who answered was about fifteen, with strawberry blond hair and blue eyes, almost a negative of Ben Solo. 

“He called his son Ben? So original...” 

“I also have a granddaughter,” Anakin said as if he had not heard the sarcasm. “Jaina is a very gifted child, I daresay.” 

The girl in question was perhaps twelve, tall for her age, and had inherited her mother's hair, and Luke's eyes like her brother. They both looked so pleased to be there, at ease and proud of themselves. Yet from their replies, Ren could tell they were less powerful than him. Wastes of time, all of them. Snoke would never deign to ever address them. Except... a familiar aura suddenly manifested itself; the scavenger was there as well! Or rather, a well-fed, smiling version of the seven or eight-year-old Rey, her long hair perfectly braided and a huge grin splitting her face. 

“Found on Jakku during a mission and adopted,” Anakin pointed out helpfully. “Unkar Plutt was not pleased but Crolutes can be influenced through the Force. She's the academy's little darling, of course.” 

Ren snorted noisily. _Of course... unlike me. They all hated me._

He heard his grandfather groan behind him, though Anakin did not add to the conversation before the scene changed again. 

They were back in Hosnia, in what must be Leia's office, a room larger than in Ren's memory. Had she been elected Chancellor? Doubtful; she would have never been content with so little power. Playing General with her toy soldiers was much more to her taste. 

Speaking of those, Dameron was standing before her and both looked equally frustrated and angry. 

“I specifically ordered you to keep your mouth shut about this mission,” Leia was saying, “and you come back with one of my brother's knights! Which part of 'secret' didn't you understand?” 

“I'm not a politician,” Dameron retorted, “but I can use a loophole when I see one. You told me to keep it a secret from _the Senate_ , and the Jedi are now completely cut from this institution. I felt much safer with someone who can _foresee_ trouble before I can see it!” 

Leia held a rebuke and signaled him to go on. 

“What did you find?” 

“One, some Imperials and a top-notch fleet, and two, that Thrawn's Far-Outsiders are not a myth. They exist, and both the Imperial Remnant and the Chiss Ascendancy are fighting them. They won't be enough to staunch the flow, though. We'll have to send help, and soon.” 

Dameron advocating an alliance with Imperials was something unexpected, Ren observed. Organa would probably disown him over it. 

The scene shifted to the hangar of a Star Destroyer. Dameron was standing in front of an unknown fighter, his head tilted back as he watched the strange vessel's weaponry. 

“And all of this is remotely activated?” he asked. 

“Indeed. So far they have not sent any inhabited ship,” a familiar voice replied. “That may change due to their recent failures with the probes.” 

Ren felt a surge of hate as Hux emerged from behind the fighter. This version was quite different from the uptight General: he wore the light grey tunic of an engineer, had let a short beard grow on his chin, and was obviously limping. Ren then experienced a wave of confusion as Dameron smiled at the redhead and offered him a hand to stabilize himself. Ren turned towards Anakin. 

“Don't tell me Dameron managed to worm his way into Hux's bed. Though with such a pair of whores, I should not be surprised. And why the hell isn't Hux a General?” 

“At this point, they're just courting, though I would say these two are made for each other. Too bad that Snoke got there first. As for Hux himself, things went differently during the Battle of Jakku and he was thankfully made an orphan much sooner. Less fortunately, he also suffered severe injuries that could not be treated properly, hence the limp.” 

The hangar vanished, replaced by the immensity of space. A space filled by ships of all sizes and origins, Chiss, Republic, Empire and Far-Outsiders fighting savagely. Usually the Force would emit ripples whenever something major happened but there he could feel the equivalent of tidal waves crashing against his mind, crushing everything that crossed their paths. 

“They will win,” Anakin said distantly as a black and orange X-wing tore through a squadron of enemy fighters. “The Allied Fleets will prevail, in that universe. Not in ours, however.” 

“How do you know? I am aware of the threat, and I will -” 

“Oh, my sweet child of summer,” Anakin sighed. “It's too late.” 

Ren blinked. 

“Snoke is one of them, don't you see? He used you to get rid of the new Jedi, who could have opposed him, and pitched the Republic against the First Order so that they would bleed each other dry, leaving only the Ascendancy. And even that is gone, now. The invasion has begun. Thrawn and Vanto are dead along with their fleet. And you killed your last chance of making a difference.” 

His glowing image faded before Ren's eyes, then disappeared entirely. The Supreme Leader shook himself. He was going to wake Hux and put the cur to work on a solution to their new problem. He would make sure that worthless bastard would not question his sources, Force-blind as he was. 

He found the man still sprawled on the floor and kicked him in the ribs to rouse him. _Growing lazy now?_ Hux slid sideways, his head turning to face Ren with glazed, unseeing eyes. Ren then noticed the stain on the wall, a repulsive mess of brain matter and shards of bone, droplets of blood still dripping from it onto the metal plates. 

_You killed your last chance._

And he had no idea what to do now.

**Author's Note:**

> That thing will probably get expanded in a multi-chapter story one of these days.  
> Unless you guys would prefer a post-TLJ AU. Or a modern days one. Or a cross-over with The Promise ;)


End file.
